To Catch a Pirate

6 - And why is it always my fault?

A swarm of small rowing boats flogged towards the looming pirate ship, a black shadow in the growing morning light. It was was getting warm, but Nelly didn't feel it.

"I'm sorry." Sky's voice sounded clearer than before, no tears were stuck in their voice. 

"Don't apologize. Tell me what you did wrong." It was a harsh demand. Nelly should be looking at sky, see how they were taking it, whether she should support them. But she didn't. Her eyes were fixed on the pirates, now boarding their ship.

"I tried my best, I swear-"

"Yes, but what did you do wrong, Sky? Or wasn't there anything that could be improved?"

"Well, yes, I was- but I wasn't-"

"Tell me what you think you did wrong. Now."

"I... I was concentrating really hard on looking out, but I kind of only looked into the wrong direction. And it turned out to be the wrong one."

"So what do you learn from that? For the next time?"

"That I need to look into all directions."

"Very good. I am sure this is something you will remember, after this night. Now, I am sure you a tired. Go to bed and try to catch up on sleep before we have to work again."

The sound of disappearing steps informed Nelly that Sky was following her instructions. At least in this department they were reliable.

"Can I go to bed too?" asked Millie. Nelly allowed it. Only then she became aware of the loud wailing noises Ginny made.

Nelly wasn't good with children, so when she approached Ginny the crying only got worse.

"If you don't tell me why you are upset I can't help you," Nelly tried to reason.

"She's going to kill him! And it's all my fault," the girl wailed.

"It isn't. Only the Red Lady has control about who she kills." For a moment Ginny stopped crying and Nelly thought she had solved the problem. Then the crying started up again, now louder and more hysterical. 

"Do you want to wait with me until the Captain is back?" Ginny shook her head, but didn't make any move to go somewhere else. So Nelly waited, while slowly going deaf from Ginnys cries. 

The sun was more than fully up when finally the navies rowing boats appeared from behind another cliff. There were far to many of those around, Nelly thought. With out all those cliffs none of this would have happened. But removing the rocks wasn't something they could do over night.

Frustrated voices mixed with Ginnys sobs as the rest of the crew started climbing up the boat. Nelly let a ladder down and was soon faced with the Captain, who ignored her.

"Ginny, what's the matter? Was Nelly mean to you?" he asked, picking her up.

"They took Charles! The Red Lady! She is going to kill him!" Ginny cried. 

"What did you say?" As if suddenly apathetic to Ginnys cries the Captain sat her down and turned to Nelly. "Is that true?"

"No."

"Good. Great." The Captain was his usual smiley self again, turning back to Ginny. "I think you had a nightmare, dear. But don't worry, I am going to kill the Red Lady soon enough."

"She didn't have a nightmare, Captain. At least that isn't the reason she is crying. The Red Lady did come here and she did take Charles. What Ginny got wrong is that she isn't going to take him. She wants to negotiate with you. In three days, at sun rise, on that cliff."

"What? How did that happen?" Nelly had never met the person she was speaking to now. The Captain had turned a sickly shade and his eyes were dull.

"I don't know exactly how, but I assume they approached in small rowing boats and hid between the cliffs. It was during the last shift. We had no shot."

"Why didn't you prevent it? You are an officer, aren't you? You were in charge."

"Charles and I were, yes, but it wasn't my shift. I acted exactly how I was supposed to-"

There was a loud sound. Nelly was thrown of balance. She was suddenly looking to the side. Her cheek exploded in burning hot pain. Gasps and whispers of the crew hit her ears the same time the realization hit her brain. The Captain had just slapped her. In front of everybody.

She wanted to say something. Explain. Complain. Because it wasn't her fault. They had been outnumbered. They didn't stand a chance. Nelly could have fought more, but it wouldn't have changed anything. 

She could have offered to go instead of Charles, but how would that have helped? It would have been the same situation, in the end. One officer taken hostage, the other left behind to deal with the mess.

"Listen everybody. We are a crew, a team. We rise together, we fall together, we die together and we fight for each other. Officer Norther betrayed that order, betrayed us, so she needs to be punished. Tomorrow she will be flogged, twelve times, for letting the Red Lady take one of our officers."

The Captain didn't look at her while talking. He stared at the crew, with no hint of smile and no attempt to sound charming. Nelly didn't understand - not what he was doing, not why he was doing it. Should Nelly really have sacrificed her self? Why? It would have helped nobody, expect maybe made the Red Lady upset. Maybe she would have killed one of them just out of annoyance. Maybe she would have killed all of them. It wouldn't have been smarter, it wouldn't have been more efficient. And Charles was of the same rank as her - there was no moral obligation for her to sacrifice her self. 

No matter how much Nelly thought about it, she couldn't see what she had done wrong. But nobody protested. Instead, as she looked around, angry glares were sticking to her. Somebody spit at her feet. 

So in the end, it was her fault, if only because everybody else had decided it.

// And so Nellys suffering continues... As always, if you like the story please vote or comment to tell me your thoughts :)